A frend of mine and I were scrambling up the Talus slope below Eagle cliff and stopped on a large flat rock about half way up. We were talking qiuetly, and eating when all hell broke loose. I was looking at my friend when the first wasp nailed him in the back of the head. I got up and started running and jumping up and over boulders as large as houses, while getting stung about a dozen times (including in the ear and on my nipple). The wasps followed me for over 100 feet. The odd thing was we never saw a nest, we were quiet, we were still, and got stung before any "swatting" began. I was wondering if anyone else had a similar experience or or an opinion as to what triggered them.

Paper Wasps build what people call "wasp nests" in trees. Easy to spot. Hornets build those brown honeycomb type nests under house eaves and in your shed. Yellow jackets, however, build nests underground, or in rock crevices close to the ground. I'd guess you sat or stepped on a nest, and they came out stinging.

actually if they were biting they could be yellowjackets, i think they bite rather than sting,

LoL, I never paid that close attention to which end was inflicting the pain.

yea, i think i read that somewhere rather than watch them bite me.

What gets wasps riled is a good question. Two weeks ago I was in the Gunks, leading over to the hanging belay on Traverse of the Clods. Lo and behold, about 20 feet before the belay, there was a paper wasp nest the size of a rugby ball. The wasps were flying in, out, and around, but didn't bother me. I continued over to the belay and brought my partner across without incident.

Things got a little more tense when I started up the next pitch and moved back close to the nest. One wasp flew IN the vent hole on my Petzl helmet, buzzed around between the webbing inside and the top of my head, then flew back out!

In the end, neither of us suffered a single sting. It was late in the day, close to sunset, and I wonder if that was a factor. Whatever, I was glad for the peaceful coexistence.

Where is eagle Cliff?

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I was once on the ledge of the second pitch between Baby and Easy O, and a wasp kept visiting me while I was belaying my partner. He kept checking out my shoes, which are purple La-spotiva mythos and I had a tye dyed bandanna on, which the wasp frequently checked out too. It kept coming back and since I was in the only shadey spot (the itty bitty tree) in the area, I suppose it was a appealing to visit for any creature on a hot sunny day. I squirmed slighty and hoped it would just move on. Eventually I did and left my curious wasp friend behind.
I have to say that this wasp was quite large, It was black and the size of my thumb in length. What kind of wasp was that? Was that the same type you encountered?
wow what a bummer.
such a big bee ; )

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